Monday, February 15, 2010

Family Day Ride

I took it easy and stopped once to stretch out my groin. Got to grandmas and did a few quick stretches before knocking. The ride home was about the same, maybe a bit more wind but non eventfull.

Physio seems stumped about my injury, now they think it may be a couple bulging discs in my back pressing on my leg nerves. I do have slight back pain when I wake up but it seems to go away after I walk around a bit, Anyway I have been trying to sleep on my back and it seems to be working. I guess if I ever purchase a Hennesy Hammok for any long distance touring I will have to learn to sleep on my back anyway.

I had a comment posted on my previous posting asking about the shoes in the picture.here is the story on them....

They are Nike skate shoes that are approx 2 yrs old. They were pretty trashed and about to go into the trash. I had to ride in the rain late last fall and my feet got soaked. I spent the rest of that day trying to figure out a solution.. I did not want to shell out $$ for waterproof shoes so I thought I would make my old shoes waterproof.. I put them on then layered white duct tape onto them. I then took some of my reflective tape (DOT Reflective Saftey Tape) and cut a large red patch for the backs and a small stripe at the toe. I think that a moving reflector is much more visible then a stationary one. I look like a dork when I'm walking across the parking lot at work but I'm not too concerened about that. I have rode in the rain with them and the Tape seems to be very effective at keeping out the water and the cold. In colder temps ( below -7) my toes start to get cold my remidy to this is I have cut rectangles of Kraft paper (the stuff packages are shipped in) and I fold it over my toes and jam my foot into the shoe..It works awesome. I also doesent leave any ink stains like newspaper does.

Thats it for now. I expect to ride to work at least once this week. in the mean time I will continue stretching and iceing my leg...

Rantwick.I first tried a couple layers of newspaper to keep my toes warm but my toes would tear thru them as I put my shoe on..The Kraft paper hasent ripped yet. I also tried shrinkwrapping my shoes with clear platic shrinkwrap but this turned out to too delicate. I figure if the Tape fails I can allways apply more. I also think it feels much better to solve these types of problems on my own rather than purchasing a store bought solution that is most likley way overpriced... I think you can get Kraft wrapping paper at the post office by the way..

I covered a plastic shopping bag with duct tape. Then cut a slit in it and put my tools in it. My backpack isn't water proof but this has kept my tools dry in the pack for years. I covered the slit with a different color tape so it is easy to find if I need to open it in the dark. I am going to try tape on my shoes now.